Pass a TABLE variable to sp_executesql

Question

I'm trying to pass a TABLE variable to the sp_executesql procedure:

 DECLARE @params NVARCHAR(MAX)
 SET @params = '@workingData TABLE ( col1 VARCHAR(20),
                col2 VARCHAR(50) )'

 EXEC sp_executesql @sql, @params, @workingData

I get the error:

Msg 156, Level 15, State 1, Line 1
Incorrect syntax near the keyword 'TABLE'.

I tried omitting the column specification after 'TABLE'. I also tried to declare the table as a variable inside the dynamic SQL. But no luck...

Seems to me that TABLE variables aren't allowed to be passed as parameters in this procedure?. BTW: I'm running MSSQL2008 R2.

I'm not interested in using a local temp table like #workingData because I load the working data from another procedure:

INSERT INTO @workingData
     EXEC myProc @param1, @param2

Which I cannot do directly into a temp varaible (right?)...

Any help appreciated!

Answer 1

If you are using SQL Server 2008, to pass a table variable to a stored procedure you must first define the table type, e.g.:

CREATE TYPE SalesHistoryTableType AS TABLE
(                     
    [Product] [varchar](10) NULL,                
    [SaleDate] [datetime] NULL,                
    [SalePrice] [money] NULL
)
GO

or use an existing table type stored in the database.

Use this query to locate existing table types

SELECT * FROM sys.table_types

To use in an stored procedure, declare an input variable to be the table:

CREATE PROCEDURE usp_myproc
(
    @TableVariable SalesHistoryTableType READONLY
)
AS BEGIN
    --Do stuff     

END
GO

Populate the table variable before passing to the stored procedure:

DECLARE @DataTable AS SalesHistoryTableType
INSERT INTO @DataTable
SELECT * FROM (Some data)

Call the stored procedure:

EXECUTE usp_myproc
@TableVariable = @DataTable

Further discussions here.